Brendan Burke was not on an NHL playing career path, but was moving towards a career in hockey management or possibly law. That said, this was a college kid, they have a tendency to change their minds, but he was the video coordinator and student manager at Miami University of Ohio and not a varsity player for that team.
But as a counter-example to Sean Avery, Brent Sopel, Georges Laraque and Brian Burke, you have the recent event of Wayne Simmonds calling Avery a faggot during a preseason game (and this a week after being the victim of a banana toss during another game; Simmonds is black and there are racist connotations). In junior hockey in Ontario there was a recent case of a kid calling a black player a nigger; apparently that wasn’t the first time that word was thrown at that player. The offending player was suspended, IIRC.
I’m willing to accept that some people just never thought about half the insults they throw on the ice; they are just chirping and they use a set vocabulary that they learned playing the game and never thought about the impact those words can have. I know many people insist that “that’s so gay” or “you’re such a faggot” isn’t actually an insult towards gays, that it’s “just words.” If some kids still haven’t gotten the message on “nigger” then I think we have a while to go before the gay-related vocabulary is removed from the game.
I think the two will happen together; a gay player will come out, and the vocabulary will get toned down and suspensions might be handed out to players that use certain terms. But I think there’s still quite a ways to go. There aren’t enough players being vocal about gay rights, although when asked directly, most will say they are against homophobia. I chose 15 years; I think it’ll be the “next” generation of players that might break this barrier, not the current one.
The front page of SI is a pretty good way to come out. Good on SI for choosing to lead the way instead of being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. I hope that he’ll have an easier time than the men who integrated professional sports in the past; hopefully the fact that he’s played in the league for more than a decade will give him some cover that Jackie Robinson and other black athletes didn’t receive. I also think that the majority public is more accepting of gay people as equals than they were blacks in the 50s.
I always thought it would be baseball first. Specifically just after they signed their last big contract because that money is guarantied no matter what happens.
Not too sure if you can consider him an active player. Free agent with no team at the end of his career. Its possible someone is looking for him to sit at the end of their bench. The publicity may even push a crappy team to take a chance on him. We’ll see. I’m sure he’ll still be playing, it just might not be in the US.
Apparently, you aren’t familiar with professional baseball players. That may well be the last major sport to have an active gay player.
Ha! Shows what I know.
Though the late-in-career coming out should have been more apparent as a possibility. How times have changed in less than two years.
That and wishful thinking.
The last couple of seasons he’s averaged 10 minutes a game for playoff teams. He’s not at the end of the bench yet.
Last season he played in 38 games with an average of 1.1 points per game. Pretty good on defense when healthy. I’d call that end of the bench.
The good news is that now nobody else has to be “the first.” I think there will probably be a snowball effect, with other athletes who have been wanting to come out but afraid of the response deciding to do it now that the door has been opened. Of course there will be a first in baseball, first in football, etc., but in a few years coming out is not going to get you the cover of SI.
This.
Good for him for coming out but let’s be honest here, this doesn’t have anywhere near the impact of a top, or even middle tier, player coming out. It almost seems like it may “force” Washington to keep him to avoid negative appearance even though he’s not a very productive player anymore.
Good on Jason for doing this, regardless of the reason, but is it possible that this coming out may be partially motivated by a desire to have a lasting legacy in the sport (and all sports)? I’m not a big basketball fan, but he seems like an average journeyman player - being the first gay baller will put him on the map.
Average would be vastly overrating him, his career can be summed up as “I got six fouls to give”.
I reckon he is a middle-tier player. Bottom-tier players do not spend 10+ years in the NBA.
And I think you have really underestimated the ripples of this event. Take another look at the news. Every professional player in every major sport, and nearly all serious fans (not just basketball), have heard or will soon hear about this. The affirmations are pouring in; there won’t be much room for the other side.
Yeah, a mega-star that non-fans have heard of would have been an even bigger splash… but for the sports world, this is it.
If it was ‘legacy’ he was after… he’s got it. Not a bad one.
Average NBA careers are what, five to seven years? Puts Collins a ways up there, even if he is a niche player. He’s nearing the end of his career, yes. But every player declines in their later years if they’re lucky enough to avoid serious injury and actually have later years.
Well, so what? Surely that crossed Jackie Robinson’s mind. Should we criticize him for it?
Being the first gay PRO in any sport will put him on the map.
See Peremensoe’s post. Below average players don’t get 10 years. Even ones with six fouls to give. And I’ve never even heard of the guy since I don’t follow the NBA.
Not a bad one at all. Good for him and good for those guys that he will carve a path for. It’s ridiculous to me that people in America in the 21st century should have to be ashamed of which gender they find attractive.
Seven footers do.
I saw Jason play live a number of times when he was a member of the Hawks last year IMHO, he’s a good “choice” for the first openly gay pro player. He’s intelligent, personable, and he’s a hard working inside player. He never scored many points, but he was a better than average defender, and a better than average rebounder. A hard working blue collar type player, exactly who I would pick to be the first representative example of an openly gay pro athlete.
Good for him. Proud he was a Hawk for a while.
Are we really going to bicker over the exact definition of a pro athlete, and whether he qualifies?
I don’t know if anyone is bickering. Is he currently active in the NBA on a team? If not, will he be next year? Hey, if he is a bench-warmer but is on a team, it counts. If he is cut loose, then I guess not. Is his team in the playoffs now and he is on the team?